Phenolic molding powder



' flow taking place.

Patented Nov. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT 0 Fries 2,137,568 rnnnomo Momma rownan Ludwig Cserny, Wiesbaden Hessen-Nassau, Germany, assignor to The Resinons Products 8:

Chemical Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

No Drawing.

No. 80,716. In

8 Claims.

In my co-pending applications 1,171, filed January 10, 1935, and 28,022, filed June 22, 1935, of which the present application is a continuation-in-part, it is shown that the addition of certain organic materials to phenol-aldehyde condensation products permits-them to be preappreciable However, if these materials are reduced to a powder, they cannot be satisfactorily molded under heat and pressure because of lack of suflicient flow in the material.

Attempts have been made to weld pure, slightly pre-hardened phenol-aldehyde condensation fusing so that by using variously colored particles unique efiects could be obtained.

The molding powders containing fillers which are generally available are made by preparing first a non-reactive resin by condensing a phenol with less than one mol of formaldehyde, subsehardening material such as contemplates preparing an active phenolaldehyde resin by condensing one mol of aphenol with more than one mol of formaldehyde and, by suitably plasticizing this resin Application May 20, 1936, Serial Germany May 22, 1935 transparent articles. It is a further object to provide such a powder in that state of prehardening which will permit the particles to adhere firmly to each other, without completely fluxing together, under the action of heat and 5 I pressure. It is another object to provide a phenolic molding powder which can be prepared in various colors so that on mixing powders of different colors articles can be molded so that the colors do not run together but yield results 10 similar to the irregular color distribution in certain natural products such as tortoise shell, amber, etc. For this purpose a rather coarse powder will yield the best results.

These objects have been accomplished in the 16 following manner:

' A reactive phenol-aldehyde condensation product is prepared from one mol of phenol and approximately two or more mols of formaldehyde.

During the preparation one or more of the or- 20 ganic plasticizing agents enumerated in the copending applications designated above is added to the reaction mixture. The condensation is carried out in an alkaline medium to a point beyond the so-called "B" stage so that the resulting material is insoluble and practically infusible.

aslight degree of plasticity. In this condition it has two characteristlc properties that render it unique as a mold ing powder, particularly one containing no 30 and which therefore may be used in the production of transparent be readily ground to powder and,

been just 'sumcient residual plasticity to permit the particles to be welded 'to- 3b gether under the action of heat and pressure with only a minimum of flow taking place in the individual particle.

may be removed and further heated to complete 5 molded articles.

10 sation products of aliphatic or aromatic amines with aldehydes, the polymerization product of unsaturated compounds such as styrene, the vinyl compounds, etc., soluble phenol-aldehyde .condensation products of the Novolak type, alkyd i resins, and cellulose derivatives such as cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, benzyl cellulose, etc. These may be added to the phenol-aldehyde condensation product before or during the preliminary hardening. In the case of the condensa- 20 tion products of aldehydes with urea or amines,

the urea or the amine may be added to themixture of formaldehyde and phenol containing suflicient aldehyde to completely react with both phenol and urea thus forming a very intimate g5 mixture of the two types of condensation product. The products thus obtained are then hardened to a point between the B and "0 stages at which they can be ground to a powder and in this state are fusible. 30 The following examples will illustrate this invention but it is not limited to the exact conditions of time, temperature and proportion of ingredients shown since it may be otherwise practiced within the scope of the appended claims.

- 35 Example 1 '75 parts of a phenol-formaldehyde condensation product, prepared from 1.0 mol of phenol and 2.5 mols of formaldehyde in the presence of strong alkali, are mixed with 25 parts of a soluble. fusible phenol-aldehyde condensation product of the Novolak type, heated to about 60. C. until the product passes the 3" stage, becomes insoluble and is sufllciently hard to be ground. After grinding to a powder it may be molded at a temperature of about 80 C. under a pressure of about '70 atmospheres. Under these conditions there is practically no flow of material in the mold and the individual particles are simply welded together. Such a product may be colored as de- 50 sired and a mixture of powders of different colors placed in amold. When such a mixture of pow.- ders is pressed, the individual particles will weld together without fluxing into each other and in thismanner unique efiects'in the finished article 55 can be obtained.

Example 2 '15 parts of an alkaline condensation product,

prepared from 1.0 mol of phenol and 2.5 mols of 60 formaldehyde, are mixed with a glyceryl phthalate having an acid number of about 140. This mixture is then heated at about 60 C. until condensed beyond the 13" stage and is hard enough a to be ground to a powder. It may then be 65 molded as shown in Example 1.

Example 3 2 gram mols of urea, 4 gram mols of formaldehyde (30%) and cc. of caustic soda (IN/1) are 70 condensed for 10 minutes under a reflux condenserv after which 1.0 gram mol of phenol is added and the boiling continued for about 30 minutes ""longerzqli cc. of hydrochloric acid (N/l) is then added and the solution boiled '15 minutes following which the water is distilled oil under reducedpressure at 40-50 C. The resulting product is a semi-crystalline, white substance" having a sinter point of approximately 70 C. On prolonged distillation at a somewhat increased temperature the product loses its ability to sinter 6 and passes beyond'the 13" stage. It may then be powdered. The powder thus obtained may be molded at a temperature of about 80 C. under a pressure of about 60 atmospheres. This product may also be colored in various ways as de- 10 scribed in Example 1.

Example 4 100'parts of phenol, 100 parts of 40% formaldehyde and -10 parts heated together under a reflux condenser until the cellulose acetate is dissolved. 2 parts of ammonia (0.91 sp. g.) is then added and the mixture heated until it becomes cloudy. This mixture is then dehydrated under reduced pressure and heated at about 60 C. until the condensation product has passed the B stage and the resulting material is hard enough to be ground. The powder thus obtained may be molded as shown in the previous examples. This product may also be dyed in various colors and mixtures of powders made in order to obtain any desired color effect in the final product. The powders made according to the foregoing examples maybe used for various purposes in the molding industry, particularly where color effects such asthose obtained in natural products like amber, tortoise shell, etc. are desired.

I claim:

1. A process for preparing infusible,jweldable molding powders which comprises partially condensing a phenol with more than an equimolecular proportion of formaldehyde in an alkaline medium, adding to the.' partial condensate a modifying agent which is one of the group consisting m of amid-formaldehyde condensation products and condensation products of a polybasic acid with a polyhydric alcohol, and continuing the condensation until the composite product has reached a point, intermediate the B and C stages, at which ground particles of said composite product are infusible but have suflicient residual elasticity to permit their being welded together with a minimum of fluxing into a transparent unitary mass by the application of heat and pressure.

2. The process for preparing infusible, weldable, molding powders which comprises condensing a phenol with more than an equimolecular proportion of formaldehyde in an alkaline medium in the presence of a modifying agent which is one of the group consisting of amid-formaldehyde condensation products and condensation products of a polybasic acid with a polyhydric alcohol, and stopping the condensation when the composite product has reached a point, intermediate the B and 0 stages, at which ground particles ofsaid composite product are iniusible but have sufficient residual elasticity to permit their being welded together with a minimum of fluxing into a transparent unitary mass bythe application of heat and pressure.

3. The process for preparing infusible, weldable, molding powders which comprises condensing a phenol with more than an equimolecular propore tion of formaldehyde in an alkaline medium in the presence of an amid-formaldehydecondensation product and stopping the condensation when the composite product has reached a point, intermediate the .B and C stages, at which ground particles of said composite product are infusible of cellulose acetate are 5 lar proportion of but have sufllcient residual elasticity to permit their being welded toaether with a minimum of fluxing into a transparent unitary mass by the application of heat-and pressure.

4. The process for preparing infusible, weldable, molding powders which comprises partially condensing a phenol with more than an equimolecuformaldehyde in an alkaline medium, adding to the partial condensate a condensation product of glycerine and phthalic acid, and continuing the condensation until the composite product has reached a point, intermediate the B and C stages, at which ground particles of said composite product are infusible but have sumcient residual elasticity to permit their being welded together with a minimum oi fluxing into a transparent unitary mass by the application of heat and pressure.

5. The process for preparing infusible, weidable molding powders which comprises condensing a phenol-formaldehyde reaction product in an alkaline medium and in the presence of a modifying agent which is one of the group consisting of amide-formaldehyde condensation products and condensation products of a polybasic acid with 5 a polyhydric alcohol, and stopping the condensation when the composite product has reached a point, intermediate the B and C stages, at which ground particles of said composite product are iniusible but have suflicient residual elasticity to 10 permit their being welded together with a minimum of iluxing into a transparent unitary mass by the application of heat and pressure.

6. An infusible, weldable molding powder prepared by the process of claim 5.

7. An infusible, weldable molding powder prepared by the process of claim 3.

8. An infusible, weldable molding powder prepared by the process of claim 4.

LUDWIG CSERNY. so 

